A change in date for the Lost in France book launch, and other good news
Report from Writer-Nerd Central
I discovered a very good new-to-me podcast, “Helping Writers Become Authors” with K.M. Weiland. Clearly I’m behind, because this is Season 18.
Listening to a couple of episodes helped me get over some minor writerly humps this month as I continue writing the first draft of Lost in France Book 2, the sequel to Lost in France that will be published on Tuesday June 23, 2026 (yippee). And yes, shameless plug: if you’re so inclined, please consider pre-ordering wherever you like to buy books.
More news on Lost in France below—notably a date change to my book launch in Toronto to June 30, 2026, at Noonan’s Pub, 141 Danforth, 6-8pm.
Meanwhile, here are two of Katie Weiland’s podcast episodes I listened to this week, if you are a fellow citizen of writer nerd-dom.
S18:E04: The Four-Act Structure and the Circular Shape of Story
My top aha moment from the episode was hearing about a fascinating way of looking at the four-act story structure: The four stages of knowing. These originate from a well-known concept in learning and personal growth, often paraphrased as:
You don’t know what you don’t know.
Then, you know what you don’t know.
Next, you don’t know what you know.
Finally, you know what you know.
Each aligns with the character evolution found in the four quarters of a story. That’s cool.
This episode had me from the get-go thinking about Marlow’s arc in not just the first Lost in France book, but the whole soon-to-be book series, as one where, through Marlow’s adventures abroad, in every arena—work, life, and love—she claims personal responsibility and agency. Pretty much the life arc we all want, really.
I’m very happy there are 18 seasons of this good writer podcast to listen to.
More news on the Lost in France front
I’ve neglected to mention that the audiobook rights to Lost in France have been sold. Joy, joy. I will let you know when the audiobook comes out.
The novel will also be coming out in the UK in 2027 via Bedford Square Publishers.
Excellent words about Lost in France
A few authors have generously said wonderful things about Lost in France, and their blurbs are now posted on the book’s Amazon webpage and in other good places.
A giant thank you to Chantel Guertin, Uzma Jalaluddin, Carolyn Cohagan, and Grace Flahive. Check out their incredible writing when you have a chance.
Under the category of “Massively Helpful For Writers”
I mentioned a few writerly bumps at the top of this missive as I’ve been writing Lost in France, Book 2.
One, notably, was that I suddenly realized the book was going to be WAY. TOO. LONG. I stewed for a while about what to do about this. When I wrote Lost in France 1, the first draft ended up being 124K words. Most novels are 80K-90K words, and so I worked through the arduous process of cutting over 37K words without cutting any storylines. It worked out great, but, to put it mildly, I’d rather not do that again.
This time, I went with a different approach: to cut a whole storyline. Once I’d made the hard decision, it was quite easy—and the bonus is, I’ll be able to use the full outline of that story, as well as about 75 pages of writing, in Book 3, which I will start writing later this year. That is enticing.
But after that hack and slay (all good, I’m fine, sniff, sniff), I found myself stumbling around a bit. Authorial melancholy, perhaps? Literary self-flagellation? Who knows. What I do know is, Sue Reynolds saved my bacon.
I’ve talked about Sue before—she is an Ontario-based writer, editor, writing mentor, and publisher with whom I write every weekday morning in her PJ Writing meet-up. Usually between 30 and 50 writers from all over gather at 7:30 am ET over Zoom to write together in silence. This is largely how I wrote Lost in France 1—in just that one hour a day. Recently, Sue has started offering a 7:30 am PST hour over Zoom, so those on the West Coast don’t have to get up at 4:30 am. But everyone is welcome (lucky us), so now I get (at least) two hours of solid writing done a day thanks to Sue.
But what got me over the post-cut-storyline hump was participating in Sue’s Headway sessions. The Headway Project is an AWA method-based writing workshop designed to get a significant amount of work done on a particular project with a small group of writers. It’s a 2-hour workshop limited to 5 writers, max, and Sue. I cannot express the magic—and productivity—of these sessions. I highly recommend them.
One last thing: Sue has started a new offering this year called Traction, a weekly writing series for people who may be struggling to stay engaged with a bigger project. If this is you, I cannot recommend time with Sue enough. Each session lasts 4 weeks, so there is a new opportunity to sign up monthly if this is for you.
Things Kirk and I are doing
Here is a selection of ways you can see me and Kirk in person or virtually over the next little bit:
Sun, April 19 @ 3pm: The Knitting Pilgrim at Aurora Town Square
If you haven’t seen our show The Knitting Pilgrim, please join Kirk as he performs it at Aurora Town Square on Sunday, April 19, 2026 at 3pm ET. You can get your tickets here.
Sat, April 25 @ 12-2pm: Appearance at Blue Heron Books, Uxbridge, ON
On Saturday, April 25, I will be participating in the Canadian Independent Bookstore Day festivities at Blue Heron Books, 62 Brock St W in Uxbridge, ON. It is a fab bookstore that has won the Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Awards, is a two-time Bookseller of the Year for Canada award-winner, and runs the Book Drunkard Literary Festival.
My time slot is 12-2pm. Drop by! Let’s hang out and talk about books. It’s a great way to support your Canadian Independent Bookstore.
Tues, June 30, 6-8pm: The Lost in France Book launch - SAVE THE (NEW!) DATE
The Book Launch for Lost in France has moved dates. The book’s official pub date is June 23, and moving the launch to June 30 means you have time to collect your book and bring it to the launch party to get it signed. Of course there will also be books available for purchase at the event.
Come get Lost in France...by way of Ireland. Or at least at a great Irish pub, my local: Noonan's Irish Pub at 141 Danforth Avenue (between Broadview and Chester Stations, south side of Danforth).
We’ll have French wine and nibblies on hand (mais oui!), a Q&A with Claire hosted by author/host of the 'What Happened Next' podcast Nathan Whitlock, and a book signing. Book sales by Book City Danforth.
May 17, 2-4pm ET: Kirk Dunn talks about Spycraft at The Center for Knit and Crochet
Kirk is an online guest speaker for The Center for Knit and Crochet on May 17, 2-4pm ET. He’ll be giving a talk about our play, Spycraft, which tells the story of Canadian WWII spy Audette, who takes down the Nazis in Occupied France by knitting code into ordinary garments, and the knitting and coding design work he did for the production. The Center, based in Wisconsin, preserves and promotes the art, craft, and scholarship of knitting, crochet, and related arts.
June 2, 7:30 pm (doors open 6:00 pm): “Abroad: Patchwork Pride” short documentary screening, Tranzac Club
The wonderful filmmaker and social media content maker Neville Madill went to the UK last year with us on our tour to follow Kirk on his journey bringing The Patchwork Pride Project to Canada House on London’s Trafalgar Square during Pride Month. The result is a great short documentary. Doors at the Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Avenue, Toronto, open at 6pm for those who’d like to show up early for a casual knit-along; then, at 7:30 pm, Kirk and Neville will give a talk before the screening. Proceeds from the fundraiser go towards supporting the innovative 519 Community Centre, which is committed to the health, happiness and lives of 2SLGBTQ+ communities.
Until next time, friends. Happy writing, happy reading.
Claire